More New Tails on the Ledge!

As the Prince of Whales left Newburyport today, we were unsure of what we would find on Jeffreys Ledge. With the rain this week, we hadn't left the dock since Monday, and as we know, a lot can change in a day or two! But all of our apprehensions were put aside as we spotted our first blow.

Two humpback whales were spotted first. Valley, who was seen on Monday feeding with Tripod, had now found a new friend to hang out with, Quote! Quote and Valley are both adult females, and I was excited to see Quote (with her asymmetrically shaped tail) as this was her first appearance of the summer!

Next stop- Satula!! A male humpback first observed in 1988, Satula has been seen on the Ledge every year from 2000-2007. He was not seen last year which kept us wondering what may have happened to him! But alas, he must have been playing hide and seek with us, as he is back again this year! Satula lost his dorsal fin a few years back, and we still don't know how or why.

While watching Satula, a finback whale and a minke whale popped up in the same area. Finbacks are huge- about 70 feet long- the length of 2 school buses! Minkes are "small" at average lengths of 20-30 feet!

As we continued on, we came upon 2 more humpbacks- Chromosome and Tripod. Again, Tripod and Valley were seen together on Monday. Seems Tripod and Valley had changed up their partners of choice in the past few days! Chromosome, named for the large black X on the left side of its fluke, is also a new visitor to the Ledge this year! At this point, we are unsure of Chromosome's gender as this whale has yet to be seen with a calf. Another minke whale was seen nearby, and a second fin whale came into the area as we were leaving.

Certainly another great day on Jeffreys Ledge! Thanks for visiting and we hope to see you again soon!